Lib Dems attack “SNP’s dirty secret” as environmental targets look set to be missed

Scottish Liberal Democrat net zero spokesperson and environmental campaigner, Cllr Sanne Dijkstra Downie has today criticised the SNP’s failure to deliver progress on reducing waste as analysis of new figures suggested that Scotland will miss key targets for recycling and reducing waste sent to landfill.

Scottish Environmental Protection Agency data has revealed that in 2023:

• the Scottish waste from all sources (WFAS) recycling rate was 62.2%, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from the 62.8% of waste recycled in 2022. This is well short of the Scottish Government’s target for 70% of waste to be recycled by 2025.
• the estimated amount of Scottish WFAS recycled was 5.92 million tonnes, which was 452,000 tonnes (7.1%) less waste recycled than in 2022.
• the total amount of Scottish WFAS managed by incineration was 1.74 million tonnes, an increase of 292,000 tonnes (20.2%) from 2022.
• 19% of all waste was sent to landfill. The Scottish Government’s target is for just 5% of waste to be landfilled by 2025.

The figures arrive on the heels of reports from BBC’s Disclosure suggesting that that 100 truckloads of waste will be moved each day to England once a Scottish landfill ban affecting virtually all domestic and commercial waste comes into effect at the end of the year.

Commenting on the figures, Ms Dijkstra-Downie said:

“The dirty secret of this SNP Government is that there is now little hope of them meeting their own pledges to drive down waste. It looks set to be yet another broken promise.

"From missed climate targets to botching the deposit return scheme, the SNP is holding back Scotland.

“As a result of their failure, we are going to see waste being trucked to England for disposal. Carrying lorry loads of rubbish to be landfilled just beyond Berwick is even worse for the environment than landfilling it here due to the emissions generated by these journeys. It is bad news for people and planet.

“If this was happening in reverse, the SNP would be throwing a monumental tantrum. Ministers must urgently set out what steps they will take to prepare local authorities for the upcoming ban.

“Ultimately though this is just another area where the SNP have failed. People deserve a government that gets the basics right. That’s why people should vote for Scottish Liberal Democrats across the country on their peach-coloured regional ballot next year.”